News Americas, FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, Fri. May 22, 2020: As of Thursday, May 21, 2020, the death toll of Americans who have now died from COVID-19 was 96,228. That is more than all the Americans who died in combat in 6 wars as well as 9/11 combined.
The Korean War claimed 33,686 lives; the American Revolutionary War, 8,000; the War of 1812, 2,260; the Mexican American War, 1,733; the Iraq War, 3,836; the War in Afghanistan, 1,833, and 9/11 claimed 2,977 lives. That’s a combined total of 54,325 – tens of thousands less than the number of Americans who have so far lost their lives because of the administration’s mismanagement of the coronavirus.
But don’t hold your breath for the 45th POTUS to hold a moment of silence for these poor souls; he is far too busy scapegoating immigrants for his epic failure.
Never mind that many immigrants have died or are dying at a rapid rate from COVID-19, including on the frontline of this COVID-19 war within our borders. No, the xenophobic administration is now happy to use this virus to carry out its revolting agenda of ridding the country of immigrants.
Here are 3 ways they are busy executing this agenda:
1: DNA Collection
The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has started a small pilot project in Dallas to collect the DNA of undocumented immigrants who are arrested, even as US Customs and Border Protection started another pilot program months ago, according to Politico. This as the DHS moves toward implementation of a decades-old law to collect DNA from undocumented immigrants arrested by its officers. On May 1, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations arm began the pilot program as it ramps up to fully implement a little used 2005 rule.
2: H 1/B VISA HOLDERS
The Trump administration says it is now unlikely to allow laid-off holders of H-1B and other work visas to extend their stay in the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the New York Times. The administration is also expected within the next few weeks to halt the issuance of new work visas, such as the H-1B, for high skilled foreigners, and the H-2B, for seasonal employment.
The new measures would also eliminate a program that enables foreign graduates of American universities to remain in the country and work. Many H-1B workers have been waiting in a backlog for several years to obtain permanent legal residency through their employer, and now face the prospect of being booted out.
But the biggest fall out from this is that should the H-1B doctors on the frontline of the coronavirus fight die, then their families could be deported, since under the rules, if a H-1B visa holder dies, any H-4 dependent family members become undocumented and instantly subject to removal.
3: Impact On Voting
On March 18, 2020 – due to the coronavirus pandemic – the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, (USCIS), stopped doing naturalization interviews and ceremonies. Now a new report by Boundless Immigration, a technology company that helps immigrants obtain green cards and citizenship, says the delay has already left well over 100,000 future Americans in limbo. Further, it says 2,100 per day will run out of time to vote on Nov. 3, 2020, if the USCIS offices remain closed. This comes at a time when the USCIS says it is tightening the US citizenship test and as fees have been increased for naturalization services.
All this comes while Americans, including countless immigrant families are mourning. But Trump and his band of xenophobes, led by chief bandleader Stephen Miller, are all too happy to push the limits amid the distraction and push more immigrants out.
The writer is publisher of NewsAmericasNow
